RWC SAIGA 545X39 BL 16" SYN 10RD - Russian American Armory Saiga Sporter Rifle is built at the world famous AK IZHMASH factory in Russia. They have taken the design of the AK and built a modern sporter rifle. This semi-automatic 7.62x39, 308, 5.45, or 223 cal. rifle features a 16.3" hammer forged chrome lined barrel with adjustable sights, black composite stock and AK Side scope rail. These fantastic lightweight rifles come with 1-10 round magazine except for the 308 which comes with 1-8 round magazine.

Bought one of these last summer for $375 shipped so price hasn't yet dropped to pre-panic days. Good rifle. Very accurate with mil surp ammo and little recoil. Very similar to 5.56. Just be sure to clean it immediately after shooting if using the corrosive ammo. I would pour a kettle of boiling water down the barrel and in the action to flush out the salt, blow it dry with compressed air, and continue regular cleaning. Never had any issues. The stock and hand guard feel a bit cheap. You can replace the stock with a Tapco T6 with integrated pistol grip which gets it close to an AK feel or go for the full conversion. The hand guard is not AK standard unless you replace the gas tube. You can install a bullet ramp to the trunnion so it will consistently feed from standard AK74 mags. Carolina Shooter's Supply is a good source for these parts and info. Does not have the AK74 muzzle break but I couldn't tell the difference. Has a scope rail mount on the side. Fun little carbine.

The ammo last year was going for $0.13 per rd shipped. Today it goes for about $0.20+ per rd shipped. That's for corrosive mil surp. Also, sometimes hard to find. The non-corrosive current production ammo is very hard to find and expensive. Might want to consider picking up an SKS or cheap AK47. Steel case non-corrosive 7.62x39 is going for about $0.25 per rd shipped. I picked up some for $0.21 per rd shipped a couple months ago. Also, have you thought of picking up a Vepr in 7.62x54R? Would cost you a bit more but the corrosive mil-surp ammo is readily available at $0.19 per rd.

Yah i have an ak mosin and sks but i would like to add a chrome lined easy to clean 5.45 to the collection, my dad has about 2400 rounds mil surp that he bought for less than 20 cents per round so i plan to buy it off him,he bought it to shoot out of a lwrc upper and he later decided it wasnt such a good idea to chance using corrosive ammo on something expensive